No-confidence move against Modi govt

New Delhi: A no-confidence motion by the Congress against the Narendra Modi government was admitted in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, setting the stage for a showdown between the opposition and treasury benches amid concerted efforts by the anti-BJP bloc to force Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the contentious Manipur issue in Parliament.

Admitting the motion moved by Congress MP from Assam Gaurav Gogoi after a head count of 50 members in its support, a mandatory requirement, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said a date for a discussion on the motion will be decided after consulting the leaders of all parties. Sources in the opposition bloc said Birla has called a meeting of floor leaders of all parties in Lok Sabha on Thursday. As per the convention, once admitted the discussion on the motion has to be held within 10 days. The Monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to end on August 11. Although this no-confidence motion is bound to fail the numbers test, the opposition bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders argue that they will win the battle of perception by cornering the government on the Manipur issue and forcing Modi to speak on the matter in Parliament.

This is the second time that the Modi government is facing a no-confidence motion since 2014. The first no-trust motion against the Modi government in Lok Sabha was moved on July 20, 2018. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) scored a thumping win with 325 MPs voting against the motion and only 126 supporting it. The Lok Sabha currently has a strength of 543 seats of which five are vacant. The BJP-led NDA has over 330 members, the opposition alliance has over 140 and nearly 60 members belong to parties not aligned to any of the two groups. While the Congress demanded that the debate on the motion of no-confidence should start from Thursday itself, Union ministers asserted that the government is ready for it as people have confidence in Prime Minister Modi.

Addressing a press conference, Congress MP Manish Tewari said this no-confidence motion has not been brought by the Congress alone but is the collective motion of all the constituent parties of INDIA.

"For the last over 84 days, the law and order system has broken down in Manipur, communities are divided, there is nothing in the name of the government there...all this compelled us to bring a no-confidence motion against the government," Tewari said. After Gogoi, Deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, sought the permission of the House for the motion, Birla asked members in favour of granting permission to admit the motion to stand up in their places for a head count. MPs belonging to the opposition bloc INDIA, including Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, DMK's T R Baalu and NCP leader Supriya Sule, stood up for the headcount.